Process of recovering rubber waste.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERWIN EMIL ALBERT GEORG MEYER, OF NEW BRUNSXVICK, IERSEY.

PROCESS OF RECOVERING RUBBER WASTE.

Patented or. 14-, 1911.

Application filed April 29, 1S08. Serial No. 429,809.

Be it known that I, .liRWlN EMU. Ammnr GEonG hln 'nu, a subject of theGerman llmperor, residing at New Brunswick, State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful llnmovements in Processes of Re-'covm'ing Rubber Waste, of which the following is a specification. c

The present invention relates to the process for recovering rubberwaste, and has for its object to provide a process which shall act morequickly and thoroughly than the processes heretofore in use and at thesame time shallresult in economy of operation.

lleretot'ore the processes commonly used have consisted generally insubjecting the finely divided rubber waste to the action of an alkalinesolution in a closed vessel at comparatively high temperatures andp'restedious one and relatively costly.

By the process of this invention .I am cnabled to materially save in theperiod of time required and the resulting product is more thoroughlyfreed of the ingredients added during vulcanization than by any processwith which I am familiar.

The gist of my invention lies in the discovery that the oil known in thetrade as Chinese wood oil when heated, has a practically instantaneousdissolving action upon vulcanized rubber. In the practice of my process,therefore, I take rubber waste which has been ground up and add to thisrubber waste heated Chinese wood oil sutficient to thoroughly cover andpermeate the mass. The action'of the oil is hastened and made morethorough by stirring the rubber waste in theoil. The action of the oilis to practically instantaneously dissolve all the rubber. In practice,after the dissolving action of the oil is complete, I dilute it with anywell known rubber solvent to make the subsequent action of filtrationand precipitation more easy. of dilution it is preferable to employ asolvent For the purpose having a comparativcly high boiling point which\\'lll permit of its being mixed with the heated oil without evaporationof the.

solvent. The next step in theprocess is to draw oil the fluids carryingthe rubber in solution, precautionbeing taken that all the rubbercapable oi being dissolved is extracted i' l'tllltlllt. fiber with whichit is usually associated in vulcanized articles. To do this I maysubject the fiber to a second action of fresh \vood oil. I then add tothe lluids drawn oil from the rubber waste and which carry the rubber insolution, any well known agent For precipitating the rubber, acetoneacting for this purpose in a satisfactory manner. After the rubber isall precipitated I allow it to settle and draw off the fluid for rcuseafter separation. solid rubber precipitated is ot a very good qualitycarrying a minimum of foreign ingredients. The rubber particles arepressed, dried and sheetcd in any convenient manner, as by processeswell known in the art.

\Vhat I claim as new is:

l. The process of dissolving vulcanized rubber by subjecting it to theaction of heated Chinese wood oil and subsequently precipitating therubber held in solution.

2. The process of dissolving vulcanized rubber, which consists insubjecting it to the action of heated Chinese wood oil, subsequentlydiluting it with a rubber solvent, and finally precipitating the rubberin solution.

2). The process of recovering waste rubber which comprises, subjectingsaid rubber to the action of heated Chinese oil and subsequentlyseparating said rubber from said oil.

4. The process of recovering waste rubber which com )rises dissolvingsaid rubher in heated C inese oil and subsequently treatiug the solutionwith an agent for precipitating the rubber.

The process of recovering waste rubher which comprises dissolving saidrubber The in heated Chinese Wood 0i diluting the solution with asuitable sotvent and then sepmuting the rubber from said solution andsolvent.

6. The process of recovering waste rubher which comprises dissolvingsaid rubber in heated Chinese wood 0i], adding a suitablesolvunt t0 thesolution and then in precipitating the rubber from said solvent andsolution.

In Witness whereof, I have signed my name in the-prescnce of twowitnesses.

ERWIN EMIL ALBERT'GEORG MEYER. Witnesses:

II. RICHARD VVonsxc, M. M. LULLNAN.

